Monday, December 24, 2012

It has been a good year of wargaming here with many memorable games and some major projects completed. Thank you all for the feedback and comments.

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CATZILLA bestrides an AWI battlefield

This photo is our cat Margot inspiring the British counterattack at Germantown. Does her serious look give them a terrifying charge on the Patriots? Probably not as she is well behaved and so far has not eaten any of the troops of either side.

I hope to play Germantown again early in the New Year if Margot has not eaten the scenery.

Why the name Margot? My wife read Alexander Dumas’ historical novel La Reine Margot as a girl and decided on that name rather than her official cat council name of Ratho Rags Bambi.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

This Thursday we played a game at Hugh Wilson‘s house using the Bolt Action rules. The scenario was set in the Ardennes in 1940. It was a debut for the French early war collection of Campbell Hardie. The rest of the figures and the scenario were provided by Colin Jack. Hugh provided all the terrain on the 12ft by 5 ft table.

German advance guard stopped at the first roadblock

In this game, the Germans (elements of Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division - played by Martin Gibson, Donald Adamson and Hugh) had to break through the winding and narrow roads in the Ardennes in order to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium. Defending the main road were the Belgians (myself and Bart Zynda), who were to be supported by advancing French motorised forces (Colin and Campbell). The Belgians decided to at any cost to delay the Germans march along the road, so they left some barricades on the road at the resistance points, to delay the German armour, and to give the French more time for the arrival of their forces.

French S35s move forward

The Belgians showed exceptional courage, but their blocking forces were successively eliminated by the stronger and far better armed Germans. This heroic Belgian sacrifice gave the French time to arrive and join the main Belgian defence line and effectively stop the German advance. We used the draft Warlord 1940 French Army list. The rules in this force the French tanks to order any advance move and this proved problematic, worsened by the effects of a German air strike which scored multiple pins on both the S35s. The main allied line was still holding at the end of the game but by then French armour only seemed capable of going backwards.

HS123 attacks the French armour

FRENCH BRIEFING

You command a small task force which has been sent into the Ardennes to assist the local Belgian troops in resisting the advance of the Germans. While it might be acceptable for your force to die to the last Belgian we simply cannot leave the defence of the Ardennes to them. You should try to avoid upsetting the locals who will no doubt believe that they have the situation under control. Press forward to the most advanced road block and try to assume command or at least influence the tactical troop deployment. At your disposal you have the following:-

Must attempt to reach the front, at least with the armour.Roadblocks must be dismantled to allow passage and this may have to be done by your infantry if Belgians refuse.Belgian troops are unlikely to take any orders from you.

BELGIAN BRIEFING

You command a small force which has been given the task of preventing the German invaders moving up the through the forest road towards the French frontier. You have constructed roadblocks and sited anti-tank guns but you have very few troops to cover the whole area. The French have announced that support is on its way which might be helpful except for the fact that they will want to take control of operations. This you should resist while accepting what assistance seems appropriate. At your disposal you have the following:-

May set up 3 roadblocks marked on map. Invisible until direct LOS established.Each roadblock guarded by an infantry section.AT guns may be set up anywhere and will also be invisible. Hard Cover.Tank may be concealed or even dug in. French will arrive behind the roadblocks and will insist on dismantling them to allow their own troops to reach the front. Belgians will have to rebuild.Dismantling/Re-building takes inf section 1 turnBelgians have option of refusing to co-operate.

GERMAN BRIEFING

You have an armoured column with motorised support which is ordered to head through the Ardennes Forest via route N37 and break through towards the French frontier. The terrain lends itself to ambush but the Belgians will have little in the way of AT weapons and even less in the way of armour. The French may attempt to give support but a quick thrust should see you at the border before they are able to react. You have the following troops at your disposal:-

Your advance up the valley is certain to be hindered by roadblocks and ambushes.Roadblocks will not be seen until LOS is established.KO'd vehicles will block road but can be pushed off in one turn by heavier vehicle, doing nothing else, or in two turns by equal vehicle.Engineer section can open roadblock in one turn, normal infantry in two turns.You have a Luftwaffe liaison team who may be able to call in an air strike. The pilot will only be able to see troops/vehicles on the road.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

This Saturday I staged a large scale 28mm AWI game. It was played by 4 gamers from Westlothian at my house and was a refight of the Battle of Germantown 4th October 1777.

The rules used were Black Powder with the revised turn sequence. We fielded an approximate total of 750 figures. The table was 12ft long by 6ft wide. It proved to be good fun game for everyone despite my often very bad dice rolling.

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View at start from east end of the table

I have added a separate page to the blog with all the scenario information - background, OB, deployment limits, game rules incl fog rules and troop ratings etc.

The British had 3 infantry brigades deployed on the table at the beginning of the game. Of these the Piquet brigade was formed up with the 40th Foot occupying the formidable mansion of Cliveden. The other 2 brigades were encamped in Germantown and these units had to be woken and ordered to form up individually. They had a further 2 infantry brigades and a small cavalry brigade in distant reserve of table to the south. The Patriots started with elements of 2 large Continental brigades on table with the rest of these brigades attempting to march on from in turn 1. They had a central reserve of table of a Continental brigade and a small cavalry brigade plus a militia brigade on each flank attempting a wide turning double envelopment.

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The assualt on Cliveden - heavy fire...

The Patriots made their main effort at Cliveden supported by a turning movement by Greene’s brigade on their left flank which eventually threatened the eastern outskirts of Germantown. Cliveden counted as a BUA under Black powder and was held by crack British line infantry. So I was confident my British would hold - as anything but a 1 is a save in the morale rolls. Well it fell to concerted volleys and a follow up bayonet attack by 3 Continental regiments as I threw 5 ones out of 11 hand to hand morale saves and my unit then broke.

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British right wing driven back to edge of town

It was not until Cliveden fell that the 2 British brigades in Germanton were fully formed up and moved the relieve the garrison. The right flank brigade then withdrew to the edge of the town due to the threat from Greene’s Continentals. The left flank brigade secured their edge of the town and began a cautious advance on the Patriots west of Cliveden which developed into a full scale counterattack when the British reserve brigade under Cornwallis arrived. The patriots held the attack of the British and Hessian grenadiers but the British guards broke their opponents. However at the end of the game Cliveden was still securely in Patriot hands. One of Greene’s Continental units flank attacked a British line unit but those heroes held the attack, turned disordered and after a further 2 rounds of combat broke the Continentals.

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The British counterattack west of Cliveden

On the British left flank the Hessian brigade arrived after a full and lengthy breakfast and engaged and were driving back the long delayed flanking militia brigade who were being supported by the Continental reserves.
Given that Cliveden was securely held by the Patriots at the end of the game and that the losses were roughly equal on both sides we declared the game a marginal win for the Patriots.

Friday, December 7, 2012

This week I arranged an AWI game of Muskets and Tomahawks at Hugh Wilson’s house.

The game was very vaguely based on the Wyoming Valley Massacre in 1777 in that I used the names of 2 of the forts in the Wyoming Valley. It was a raid by a British force of Tories, Hessians and Indian allies opposed by Patriot civilians, militia and Continentals. Hugh provided the terrain on the 12 ft by 5 ft table and most of the buildings, I provided the fort and the majority of the figures with Dave O’Brien providing the Indian allies and civilian settlers.

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Peaceful scene - settlement A to the right and B to the left

Colin Jack, Tim Watson, Donald Adamson and Hugh Wilson played the patriots each having a mixture of units. On the British side Bart Zynda commanded the Hessians, Angus Konstam the Tories, Cameron Hardie the irregulars (rangers, jaegers and lights) and Dave O’Brien the Indian allies. I umpired the game and kept it moving along. Only 3 of the players had tried the Muskets and Tomahawks rules previously.

The superior British force deployed the Indians and the Irregulars on their left flank and they quickly overran the nearest settlement A routing 2 units of militia. They then engaged Patriot reinforcements of a unit of mounted rifles and continentals which had moved to protect the next settlement B. The Indians took the lead in the action and by the end of the game they had broken both the Patriot units and overrun the settlement.

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Red War - British led hordes overrun settlement A

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Indians engage counterattacking militia

On their right flank the British started with their Tories on the table who commanded by Angus moved to attack settlement C on the way to the fort. Bart brought the Hessians onto the table by boat and after landing they moved thru the woods to attack the fort which had been reinforced by 2 units of militia. The Tories then used these boats to cross the river to attack settement D near the fort. In the last turn the 2 Hessian units which had finally emerged from the woods fired and both inflicted 7 hits on the militia units and broke them.

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Tories use the Hessian boats as a bridge

Our conclusion was that Muskets and Tomahawks worked well, I like the card system with the varying numbers of actions for different unit types. However firing can very deadly - as shown by the Hessians. We had provided numbers of boats, canoes and bateaux which could be used both sides on the extensive river network but disappointingly only Bart used them.

BRITISH BRIEFING
You are in command of force of Loyalists supported by regular Hessians and numerous Iroquois which is moving along the Susquehanna River to attack settlements in the Wyoming Valley. You know from your scouts that there are 6 civilian settlements in the district along with a small military garrison at Fort Wintermoot. The main concentration point of Patriot troops and militia may be near to Forty Fort which is a few miles from this district. 9 of your 17 listed units are at hand when the action begins and can be deployed at your edge of the table. All your other troops are marching to the area and will arrive as reinforcements. Some could arrive on boats.

PATRIOT BRIEFING
You are responsible for the defence of the Wyoming Valley. There are 6 civilian settlements in the district along with the military garrison at Fort Wintermoot. It has been reported that a force of Loyalists supported by regular Hessians and numerous Iroquois are moving along the Susquehanna River to attack the valley. Immediately to hand to defend the settlements are a continental unit garrisoning the fort, 3 units of militia, and a unit of riflemen. These can be deployed around the settlements. All your other troops are marching to the area from Forty Fort and will arrive as reinforcements. Some could arrive by boat.